National Football League

Tom Brady, Bill Belichick get open, emotional in podcast interview

Updated Feb. 7, 2023 5:28 p.m. ET

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Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

PHOENIX — Fans have debated for years whether coach Bill Belichick or quarterback Tom Brady deserves more credit for the Patriots' six Super Bowl championships with them together, and Brady has his own answer: It's not a smart conversation.

"I think it's always such a stupid conversation to say 'Brady vs. Belichick,' because in my mind that's not what partnerships are about," Brady said Monday on his weekly "Let's Go" podcast on SiriusXM Radio. "Coach couldn't play quarterback and I couldn't coach. The best part about football is, and Coach says it a lot: Do your job ... In my view it was just people always trying to pull us apart, and I don't think we ever even felt that with each other. We never were trying to pull each other apart."

Brady, 45, announced his retirement last week after 23 years in the NFL, the first 20 of them in New England under Belichick. Brady said Monday that he'll begin work with FOX Sports as a broadcaster in fall 2024, allowing himself a year to "decompress" and spend time with family as he works to learn more about calling NFL games.

He had Belichick as a guest on his podcast this week, and the coach had much the same appreciation and admiration for his longtime quarterback.

"Just the greatest player, the greatest career. A great, great person," Belichick said on the podcast. "It was such an opportunity and an honor for me to coach Tom. I guess it's got to end at some point, you know, but it's the greatest one ever. So congratulations, Tom."

"Appreciate it," Brady responded, his voice cracking with emotion.

The two were an unlikely combination to build a dynasty around in New England, with Belichick going 36-44 in five seasons as the Browns head coach, and Brady arriving as a sixth-round draft pick, stepping in as the starter only when Drew Bledsoe was lost to injury in the 2001 season. That led to three championships in four years, and later another run of three titles in five years between 2014-18.

Their success was borne out of both being maniacal competitors. Belichick touched on his habit of singling out and ripping into Brady in front of other players, noting that the practice was influenced by a legendary coach in a different sport taking such an approach with another GOAT.

"Where I got that from was [longtime college basketball] Coach [Bobby] Knight, because Coach Knight told me that’s what he did with Michael Jordan on the Olympic team," Belichick said. "He said, ‘You know what Michael? I’m gonna rip your ass. Because I can’t rip some of these other guys without ripping you.’ And Jordan said, ‘Hey, bring it on, because I need that and that’ll help me with my teammates.’ And it was kind of a similar thing with Tom. He told me he appreciated it."

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Brady reiterated that belief Monday.

"I think if there's one thing I appreciate about Coach Belichick in life, it's that he’s not afraid to have a hard conversation," he said. "We didn’t always agree, but we always respected each other. I know he respected me for the job that I did, and I certainly did the same. I think even when you go away from each other, you respect each other probably that much more. I certainly did because I realized the commitment he was trying to make to get our team to win."

The two were separated for the past three seasons after Brady signed with the Buccaneers, but the retired QB said Monday that Belichick was responsible for so much of his early growth and development.

"I was just very lucky," Brady said. "I think Coach Belichick and I developed an amazing relationship, really from the moment I was drafted. We spent a lot of time together. He started to begin to teach me really what football was all about, how to study defenses when I started to play. ... I couldn't imagine a better teacher to say, 'Hey, this is how we're going to play quarterback in the NFL.'"

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Greg Auman